It is well known that motor vehicle bodies include a front fascia panel that covers a bumper impact beam. The front fascia panel also provides an opening by which ambient air can enter into the engine compartment to flow across the radiator and cool the vehicle engine.
The air intake opening of the plastic fascia panel is made aesthetically pleasing by the mounting of a grille assembly into the opening of the fascia. The grille assembly typically includes a rectangular plastic frame that carries an open mesh-like grille with a great many airflow openings therein.
The grille assembly is typically inserted into the opening of the fascia panel from the front side of the fascia panel and retained by a plurality of fasteners.
The disadvantage of the aforedescribed vehicle radiator grille construction is that the grille assembly is assembled onto the fascia panel from the front show surface of the fascia panel so that there is substantial risk that the grille frame will scratch or otherwise injure the painted show surface of the plastic fascia panel during the installation due to variations or mishandling that can occur during the vehicle assembly line process. In order to prevent such injury, it is common to provide a masking paper that is adhesively adhered onto the plastic fascia panel prior to the installation of the grille assembly in order to protect and cover the painted show surface against direct contact by the grille assembly. This masking procedure, while effective, adds material cost and labor cost to the assembly operation.
It would be desirable to provide a new and improved installation arrangement between a vehicle grille assembly and a molded plastic fascia panel which would eliminate the possibility of injury to the paint on the fascia panel, obviate the need for masking, improve the quality and reliability of the installation, and otherwise facilitate what can be a challenging assembly operation for the auto assembly worker.